One of North America’s largest cranes called in for Brantford bridge construction

One of the largest cranes in North America was called in for a bridge project in Brantford. CTV’s Karis Mapp takes a look.

The City of Brantford had to call in some big help as work begins on a bridge replacement project.

One of the largest cranes in North America has been transported to the Telephone City to lift pieces of the existing bridge over the Grand River along Dyke Trail so construction can begin on a new pedestrian bridge.

When it is fully assembled, the Tadano CC38.650 crane stands taller than 185 feet.

The contractor in charge of the replacement project, Sierra Bridge Inc., subcontracted crane company Mommoet to take the lead on moving the old bridge.

“We’re the largest crane and heavy transport company in the world,” Ryan Weatherbee, senior account manager with Mammoet Canada Eastern, said. “We have colleagues at work all over Europe, in the United States and all over Canada.”

Weatherbee said this specific type of crane was needed for the job.

“There’s no mobile [crane] in Ontario that could do this lift,” he said. “This is a crawler lift, and this is the only one in Ontario, as a crawler, for the flexibility to do this job. We have two of these cranes in Ontario, but this one here, it’s a newer model and it has a little bit more lifting capacity.”

The company’s other crane is currently in Cambridge at a data centre.

Prior to the Brantford job, Weatherbee was working in Detroit and Windsor on the Gordie Howe Bridge.

“We will be moving two [bridge] spans this week,” Jennifer Elliot, director of engineering services for the City of Brantford, explained. “Then this crane will need to be dismantled, trucked over to the other side of the river and the other two spans will be removed near the end of the month.”

Elliott said the new bridge is still being built, but they hope to have it in place by the end of the year.

Bridging the gap

The bridge was first built in 1875 for trains crossing the Grand River from Fordview Park to Brant’s Crossing. It was replaced in 1913 and converted into a pedestrian and cyclist bridge in 1996.

The bridge stood strong for years until a major event seven years ago.

“In 2018, the bridge was damaged by an ice jam flood,” Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis explained. “There was ice at the level of the bottom level of the bridge and a lot of structural damage.”

An environmental assessment was conducted in 2022, and ultimately recommended the superstructure be raised and replaced. The city said the new bridge, once it’s installed, will feature a wider deck and be more resistant to flood or ice jams because it will be 1.1 meters higher. Sustainable materials will be used in the construction.

“It’s going to be the same look and feel as this existing bridge, although it’ll be much newer, much more secure,” Elliot said. “It will have the same truss look in the centre. There will be two lookouts that look either direction on the Grand River upstream and downstream.”